The present invention relates to a golf ball which is a white ball tinged with red, and is endowed with both stylishness and a quality feel.
Conventional white golf balls have a strongly yellowish or bluish cast. To date, there have been no golf balls which are entirely satisfactory both in terms of stylishness and how the ball looks and feels to the golfer.
Generally, even when the shape and size of the design are the same, the way in which the size and hardness of a golf ball are perceived can vary significantly depending on the coloration of the cover. Hence, it is desirable to adjust such coloration from the perspective of the golfer.
Conventional blue golf balls include those disclosed in JP-A 11-216200, JP-A 07-059879, JP-A 07-051403, JP-A 06-254180, JP-A 2001-017576, JP-A 2002-126132 and JP-A 2007-136170. These golf balls have a strongly bluish coloring, which often makes them feel colder and harder. In general, the distance traveled by a golf ball tends to decrease under low temperature conditions. Hence, a ball that feels colder and harder often disrupts the golfer's swing.
Golf balls having a yellowish coloring like that disclosed in JP-A 2002-136621 often appear to have yellowed, making them seem old and lacking in stylishness, which is undesirable in terms of appearance.
The golf ball described in JP-A 2000-024139 is a colored golf ball having a strong pink or orange coloring. Such golf balls differ markedly from ordinary golf balls in their brightness and how they are perceived.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a golf ball which, in spite of being a white ball, has a quality feel (luxurious character) and stylishness, giving it a high commercial value, which has an apparent hardness that substantially agrees with the actual ball hardness, and which can be comfortably played because it feels “right” to the golfer at the time of impact.